Genesis Capital, a private equity firm focusing on mid-market investments in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, has completed the first closing of Genesis Private Equity Fund II (GPEF II) at the size of €40mn. The target size of the fund is €60mn.
According to Genesis Capital, GPEF II will provide equity financing, predominantly in the form of buyout funding and growth capital, to small and medium sized companies based in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
GPEF II will invest in established companies with strong growth potential either on their domestic markets or through development of export activities.
The investments will typically range from €2mn to €6mn of equity capital per project. GPEF II may also invest in larger projects (typically up to €40mn per investment) in cooperation with one of its several co-investment partners. The usual investment holding period will be three to six years.
As a generalist fund, GPEF II will invest into companies from a wide range of industries, such as manufacturing, energy services, industrial and business services, retail, industrial goods, consumer goods, IT, telecoms and media.
Jan Tauber, managing director of Genesis Capital, says: “We are pleased that with its new fund GPEF II, Genesis Capital will continue to provide equity capital to Czech and Slovak small and medium sized companies. We feel that there is a strong demand for equity capital in this market segment, particularly in the current environment characterised by difficult access of small and medium sized enterprises to standard bank financing.”
The investors joining in the first closing of GPEF II are established financial institutions with a strong reputation and long-term commitment to the Czech and Slovak markets. They include the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Česká spořitelna, Gimv (a Belgium based private equity firm), and a major European bank. The fund has a target size of €60mn and aims at final closing by mid-2010.
Tauber sees many opportunities for investment in buy-out situations. “Genesis Capital is the only firm managing funds of international institutional and private investors that is exclusively focused on providing financing to the Czech and Slovak small and medium sized companies,” says Tauber.
GPEF II will support companies with clear vision and well formulated and realistic future development concepts. In expansion capital investing, the money used in the investment goes to the company, in which the fund acquires a stake alongside the original owners, who often continue to manage and grow the company. The money is then used to support further growth.
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